Another ancient draft post dug up. Time to recall and dig up the memories….
Thoughts and Preamble
Some thoughts i had before going in:
- Solitary Quarantines are a strange thing.
- It made me wonder - for people of my generation these days, how those conditioned to hyperstimulation would be able to handle it.
- Also considered that solitary confinement would seem far more punishing on the human psyche than at any point prior in history.
- I also approached it with a sense of experimentation, and how i would take it.
Background
I stayed in the Mercure Hotel. Which was nice, as a business traveller hotel. If i rememebr correctly, we stayed for 14 days. I was with my CEO at the time.
Getting there:
The rough sequence was: disembarking from the plane, being herded through a fixed route. Getting a nasty nasal swab test, going through immigration, eventually reaching a section with various booths representing different areas (qu). A bus, equipped with all manners of plastic flaps came to get us.
The booths were kitted out with touristy marketing for each of the regions which was a well meaning attempt to welcome people within such circumstances.
I think we got off the plane at 9pm, and reached the hotel at 3am.
Routine:
- Morning swab test (mouth)
- Fairly fixed mealtimes, notified by a knock on the door.
Physiological
- I drink about 4L of water within 36 hours or so. I suppose tha . Chapped lips did nudge me to drink a lot more.
- I put in effort to keep my body active. Following Jordan Yeoh’s 30 or so minute programme.
- Food was fairly routine:
- Breakfast: Porridge with salted pickles, a bao, corn on the cob
- Lunch, Dinner: Rice with a meat, veg and tofu dish. Often similar seasonings
- I practically ate everything given except the corn. The super oily Ma La seasoning was great.
- Brought my own instant noodles (tom yum kokaaaaa) and chocolate which helped with flabour diversity too
Guest Experience
- There was a wechat group set up to make requests
- Man, some people can be needy and whiny as hell (asking for new toothbrushes or toilet paper for what seemed like everyday)
- But the majority were fairly normal
- Able to order other stuff off the menu, but i didnt dare try due to anxiety around payment and communication
- Able to order delviery in, but i didnt dare, for the same reason above
What was Illegal
- Knives (even fruit knives)
- Alcohol
- Hot food (only processed food or fruits were allowed to be delivered) Interesting…..
Psychological
- Constant, baseline anxiety
- Day 1 anxiety soon gave way to an introvert’s bliss
- But after Day 6, i started to feel it….
- Would call friends /family on occasion, to stay sane too.
- Also took up daily Mandarin lessons - as a means of being productive too
- Can’t recall if i brough at gaming devices. Brought two books if i remember correctly (finished one of them at least)
Chinese and China Experience
- This was interesting: My chinese was (is) terrible, and the not-Chinese and gestures could only get you so far. Had to stay calm, and be resourceful enough to figure things out.
- Need for a local phone number and apps engrained in super insular system. Very little support for foreigners using local apps during this period (a year later, its improved a lot since then)
- Working staff just did their jobs just to the extent where they won’t get in trouble. Had to do certain things (zero flexibility), but also unsure how to address off-the-book requests.
Just documenting and immortalising the memory…was certainly and experience.